The Men Who Made the Music: Blues Guitar

In this series, we’ll be taking a look at the men who made the music that defined the blues guitar. From the early pioneers to the modern masters, these are the guitarists who shaped the sound of the blues.

The Birth of the Blues

The blues is a style of music that originated in the African-American communities in the Deep South of the United States around the end of the 19th century. The style is a combination of African and European musical traditions. The term “blues” refers to the blue notes which are played in a minor key.

The Mississippi Delta

The Mississippi Delta is a region in the United States that encompasses parts of Mississippi, Arkansas, and Louisiana. It is considered the birthplace of the blues, a genre of music that originated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The delta is named for the Mississippi River, which flows through it.

The delta region was originally inhabited by Native Americans, who were later replaced by African Americans who had been enslaved. These African Americans developed the blues as a way to express their experiences of life in the delta. The blues became popular among white Americans in the early 20th century, and has since spread to other parts of the world.

The First Wave of Bluesmen

The first wave of bluesmen were mostly uneducated, rural black Americans who plied their trade in the juke joints and roadhouses of the Deep South. These performers developed a style of music that was distinctly their own, mixing elements of African folk music with American work songs and spirituals. The resulting sound was a raw, primal form of music that was perfect for dancing and getting people worked up into a frenzy.

One of the most important early bluesmen was Charley Patton, who was born in Mississippi in 1891. Patton was a masterful guitarist and singer, and his recordings from the 1920s and 1930s are some of the most influential in all of blues history. Other important early bluesmen include Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, and Howlin’ Wolf, all of whom would go on to have hugely successful careers in the postwar era.

Chicago Blues

Chicago blues is a form of blues music developed in Chicago, Illinois, in the 1940s and 1950s. It is based on earlier blues styles, such as Mississippi Delta blues and urban New Orleans blues, but also incorporates influences from gospel, boogie-woogie, and jazz. The style is characterized by a heavy use of electric guitar, bass guitar, drums, and harmonica, and by a focus on the city rather than the country.

Muddy Waters

Muddy Waters was one of the most important figures in the development of the electric blues. He is also one of the most well-known and influential musicians of the twentieth century. Waters was born McKinley Morganfield in Rolling Fork, Mississippi, on April 4, 1913. He began playing harmonica as a child and later learned to play guitar. In the early 1930s, he moved to Chicago, where he started his professional career playing acoustic guitar in small venues.

Waters soon began playing with a band that included some of the most talented blues musicians of the time, including Little Walter Jacobs on harmonica and Jimmy Rogers on guitar. It was with this band that Waters recorded some of his most famous songs, including “Hoochie Coochie Man” and “I Can’t Be Satisfied.” In the 1940s and 1950s, Waters continued to develop his sound, adding electric guitars and other instruments to his band. He also began working with Chess Records, one of the most important labels in the history of blues music.

Waters’ influence can be heard in the work of many later musicians, including British Invasion bands like The Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987 and received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1990. Muddy Waters died on April 30, 1983, in Westmont, Illinois.

Howlin’ Wolf

Howlin’ Wolf was born Chester Arthur Burnett on June 10, 1910, near West Point, Mississippi. He got his first taste of the blues from the local fields, where he worked alongside bluesmen such as Charley Patton and Willie Brown. In the early 1930s, he moved to Memphis and began his career as a professional musician. Wolf’s big break came in 1951 when he was discovered by Chess Records head Leonard Chess. He went on to record some of the most influential blues records of all time, including “Smokestack Lightning” and “Spoonful.” Wolf died in 1976, but his music continues to influence generations of musicians.

The Second Wave of Bluesmen

One of the most distinctive and influential guitar styles in American music, the Chicago blues sound was developed in the city’s South and West Side clubs in the 1940s and ’50s by artists such as Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, Howlin’ Wolf, and Buddy Guy. Although based on earlier Delta blues traditions, the urbanized Chicago version of the style was more electrified and featured amplified guitars, drums, and horns. It became enormously popular with white audiences during the 1950s blues revival, thanks in part to British rock bands like The Rolling Stones and The Animals, who popularized Chicago blues tracks like Waters’s “Got My Mojo Working” and Dixon’s “Hoochie Coochie Man.”

British Blues

The story of British blues is the story of a handful of men who, in the late 1950s and early 1960s, brought the music of the American south to the United Kingdom. These men – men like Alexis Korner, Cyril Davies, and Mick Jagger – were white, middle-class, and, for the most part, educated. They were also, crucially, music fans who had been inspired by what they had heard on records and on the radio to seek out the music at its source.

The Rolling Stones

The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London, England, in 1962. The first stable line-up consisted of Brian Jones (guitar, harmonica), Mick Jagger (lead vocals), Keith Richards (guitar, backing vocals), Bill Wyman (bass), Charlie Watts (drums), and Ian Stewart (piano). Stewart was removed from the official line-up in 1963 but continued to work with the band as a contracted musician until his death in 1985. The band’s primary songwriters, Jagger and Richards, assumed leadership after Andrew Loog Oldham became the group’s manager. Jones left the band less than a month before his death in 1969, having already been replaced by Mick Taylor, who remained until 1974. After Taylor’s departure, Ronnie Wood took his place in 1975 and continues on guitar in tandem with Richards. Following Wyman’s retirement in 1993, Darryl Jones joined as their touring bassist. Other notable keyboardists for the band have been Nicky Hopkins (1967–1982), Billy Preston (1971–1981) and Ian McLagan (1978–1981).

The Rolling Stones were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989 and the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2004. Rolling Stone magazine ranked them fourth on their “100 Greatest Artists of All Time” list and their estimated album sales are above 250 million units worldwide. They have released 30 studio albums, 18 live albums and numerous compilations. Let It Bleed (1969) marked the first of five consecutive number one studio albums on Billboard 200 in United States over the next four years: Sticky Fingers(1971), Exile on Main St.(1972), Goats Head Soup(1973) It’s Only Rock ’n Roll(1974) Black and Blue(1976). Many of their albums would reach number one status including Some Girls(1978) Tattoo You(1981) Undercover(1983) Dirty Work(1986) Steel Wheels/Urban Jungle Tour Live(1991). Bridges to Babylon(1997) No Security Tour Live(1998ninetynine ) A Bigger Bang Tour Live(2005-6). The Rolling Stones were ranked number four on VH1’s 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock In December 2003, Rolling Stone ranked them number thirteen on their list of “The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time”.

The group continued to release commercially successful records through most of the 1970s and 1980s; from 1977 to 1989 they had eight singles enter Billboard magazine’s Top 40 chart—more than any other musical artist during that period—and being inducted into both the U.S. Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and U.K Music Hall of Fame during that decade. In 1989 they released Steel Wheels which rank as one fifth best selling album by any artist in history according to Billboard magazine selling than 27 million copies worldwide followed by Urban Jungle Tour Live album a few years later which sold over 18 million copies just world wide Then A Bigger Bang Tour Live album a decade or so later which broke all previous records They also hold significant commercial success herewith charts not just withjstudio release but also concert tours: In 2002 they grossed over $56 million just within United States Following this tour they took bit hiatus until 2005 when released acclaimed A Bigger Bang Tour playing to sell out crowds throughout America Europe Asia Australasia According to Billboard Boxscore this tour is highest grossing concert tour ever by any artists grossing over $558 million dollars Their commercial success extends even further breaking even more box office records

Eric Clapton

Clapton is one of the most influential guitarists of all time. He helped popularize the blues-rock sound of the 1960s and 1970s, and his work with bands like the Yardbirds, Cream, Blind Faith, Derek and the Dominos, and his own solo career have inspired generations of guitarists. Clapton is also a highly respected blues guitarist, and his work in this genre has been hugely influential.

The Third Wave of Bluesmen

The last two decades of the twentieth century saw a renewed interest in the blues and a new wave of performers who brought the music to a whole new audience. These performers, often referred to as the “third wave” of bluesmen, updated the sound of the blues and made it relevant for a new generation.

Artists such as Stevie Ray Vaughan, Robert Cray, and Buddy Guy took the music back to its roots, revitalizing it and bringing it to a whole new audience. They blended traditional blues with elements of rock and roll, creating a sound that was fresh and exciting. These artists brought the blues back to its roots, creating a sound that was both familiar and new.

The third wave of bluesmen helped to reintroduce the music to a whole new generation of fans. They updated the sound of the blues, making it relevant for a new generation. These artists brought the music back to its roots, creating a sound that was both familiar and new.

The Legacy of the Blues

The blues is a genre of music that originated in the African-American communities of the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The style is a form of expression that captures the hardship and resilience of the African-American experience. The music has been a source of inspiration for generations of musicians and continues to influence popular culture today.

The Fourth Wave of Bluesmen

The late 1970s and early 1980s saw the birth of a new generation of blues players that would revitalize the genre and bring it to new heights of popularity. These “fourth wave” bluesmen (and women) took the style of their predecessors and added their own unique twist, creating a sound that was both modern and steeped in tradition.

Players like Stevie Ray Vaughan, Buddy Guy, Bonnie Raitt, and Robert Cray brought the blues to a new audience, and helped to fuel a renewed interest in the music. This wave of performers would go on to influence countless other musicians, and help to keep the blues alive and thriving into the 21st century.

The Fifth Wave of Bluesmen

The fifth and final wave of bluesmen began in the 1970s. These guitarists were heavily influenced by the British Invasion bands of the 1960s, as well as by post-World War II Chicago performers such as Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf. They brought a harder edge to the genre, characterized by distorted electric guitars and a more aggressive sound. Notable artists from this wave include Stevie Ray Vaughan, Johnny Winter, and Matt “Guitar” Murphy.